I've just finished my first week of DTS. Whew!

This has been an awesome week of drawing closer to the Lord, and bonding with other believers. The first thing I noticed when I arrived were the mountains (obvioiusly!). Arvada is at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and we have a wonderful view from the base. During quiet time I sit by the pond and look at God's wonderful creation. It is truly a blessing to be here! I'll post a picture in a few days to show how amazing this place is, but even a picture can't cover the awesomeness of the Rockies.

The first week was our adjustment period to YWAM life. There are about 30 of us in my DTS class, and it is truly a community atmosphere here in YWAM Denver. We've been eating, fellowshipping, and playing together this past week. We've also shared testimonies, and have freely discussed how God is working in our lives. We are an extremely diverse class. My classmates come from South Korea, England, Switzerland, Chile, Canada, and Australia, as well as various parts of the United States. It's amazing talking to my classmates, because I am learning a lot about various cultures and backgrounds, and they are learning a lot about my background as well. During a bonding activity, I had the opportunity to tell people about pig-pickins. Very few people know what they are! I'm trying to get the staff to do a pig-pickin before we do our outreaches, but apparently it's not that popular in Colorado. We've also hiked a few mountain trails yesterday afternoon, and that was a lot of fun! Spring hasn't quite sprung yet in Colorado, but I love the mountains here!

Though the bonding activities are fun, our DTS leaders reminded us that this an awesome time to draw nearer to the Lord. Very few Christians receive an opportunity like this to purely study God and listen to Him. We are all very fortunate to have five months apart with God. Already God is speaking to each one of us in our class. He has spoken to me about certain issues in my life, and how much I need to lay down in order to follow Him. I believe that God has brought me here to Denver for a reason, and has placed certain people in my life that will help me with my walk with the Lord. I am truly blessed to be here, and I can't wait to see how the Lord will change my life.

God has already answered some awesome prayers, even before I came to Denver. He provided all the funds needed for tuition, plus contribuitions towards outreach. Of course, this happened at the very last minute, but my praises go to Him! And last night I was asked to play keyboards for a local church in the area. Other DTS students will be playing in the band as well. This is a rare opportunity for DTS students to play in the area! I am truly blessed to continue to play, even when I expected not to play keyboards for five months.

As a class, we are completely open to what God has to say to each one of us. At the same time, our minds have quickly shifted to the outreaches that are starting in June. We have a choice of three locations, which are Mexico, Thailand, and Brazil. I was leaning towards Thailand before I came to Denver, but I wanted to be open to where God will send me. On Tuesday, the outreach coordinator announced that half of the outreach fees are due on April 20th, and that this will determine where our location will be. When I registered the day before, I gave accounting all the funds that was raised for outreach without even knowing where I would go. It turned out to be almost exactly half of the outreach fee to Brazil! Since then I feel that God is calling me to Brazil, but I still need more prayer about this and make sure that this is where He wants me to be.

So here are some praises and prayer requests so far:

• Praise God for bringing our internationals here! We are waiting for one more from the UK who didn't receive his visa until last Saturday, but he will be here this Tuesday. Everyone else's visas went through, and I am blessed to have such wonderful classmates to share our experiences.
• We are currently praying over where to go for outreach. We leave June 18th (or there abouts), and the first payment is due April 20th. Please pray that God will gives us direction, that He will make it super clear as to where we should go. Please also pray for funding. We were given wonderful suggestions on how to raise funds, and the staff has been very helpful in this arena. Please pray that God will continue to provide our needs, and that we may put our trust in Him while we are serving Him.
• Pray that God will completely do "heart surgery" on each and every single one of us. Pray that we will each run towards Him for strength on a daily basis, no matter how tough it gets.

And I would also like to praise God for giving me such a wonderful church family. They have truly supported me through this process, and I don't think I would have had a chance in the world to do this if it weren't for my family at Clear River. I am very grateful for the prayers and support of my church, and I couldn't thank them enough. I'd also like to praise God for giving me such a wonderful biological family as well. God called each of them to support me, and each one (including my fourteen year old sister!) have promptly listened and followed God's voice.

I am very grateful to be here. I will continue to update weekly on what's going on. Thank you so much for reading!